A Light After the Dark
by Bgrim8633
Summary: This is my sequel to Prototype 2 where Alex has re entered to a dangerous world that despises him, old and new enemies all around, and a sister that may hate him. Something inside of him has come out of hibernation, something strong and unafraid of anything that gets in its way. He will face something he cannot destroy...himself.
1. What the Heart Wants

**Chapter 1: What the Heart Wants**

Heller and his daughter move into an apartment in the yellow zone.

While Heller sleeps, he experiences pain and a nightmare. His eyes snap open and he violently sits up and examines the room to make sure there's nothing in the room with him. His brow hardens as he realizes something's not right. He was completely alone in the room, and yet..something was wrong. He gets out of bed, almost like an out of body experience. He walks into his daughter's room and a memory he collected begins to play:

Evolved: "Do you want us to kill Heller's Daughter sir?"

Heller is unable to control himself as he activates his Blade.

Mercer: "No, I want him to witness what I can do to her..."

Heller's face is terrified and angry, tears streaming from his face as he realized what was influencing him, raises his blade over his daughter.

Mercer: "First hand!"

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Alex was standing in the apartment that him and Dana used to share. He had nowhere else to go right now and this was the first place he could think of, the only place where he could forget the world completely hated him. He looked around the living room, everything was the same as he remembered, the same sense of clutter and disorder, the same stale, murky air, the same fitful swirl of dust in the murky sunlight pushed through the smudged window, every out-of-place thing was in its place, undisturbed. Those captivating blue eyes that would strike fear into even the hardest Blackwatch soldier or the strongest hunter, became ridden with regret and self pity. Something the whole world would enjoy immensely.

Newspaper Headline: Alex Mercer spotted in yellow zone!

He looked at the article with almost hesitation, as he read each sentence that did nothing but talk about how the monster was going to kill everyone, and why shouldn't they? He had tried to control or kill every living thing on planet. He looked around the cluttered residence, stacks upon stacks of dusty, ripped newspapers and magazines that, like the one in his hand, also had articles of her brother becoming more and more corrupt and evil as the days went on. He relished the memories he still had about when the things he did could loosely be considered a good thing.

He knew where she was after consuming Heller from the inside out, but he couldn't face her, as indestructible as he was, he betrayed her and she hated him now. The numbness of those thoughts finally start seeping in as a pained expression rippled his face when he thought about Dana looking where her brother went, her sad face and crying eyes ringing in his head. She was only looking after him and loving him when no one else did. He walked slowly, examining every item before he stopped before the window that she always scolded him for entering in, along with all the smudges, it had a large crack in the glass. A small sentimental smile cut its way across the otherwise saddened expression, and a moment later he was gone.

Alex stood on the roof of a building that was overlooking an intersection. He stared off into the distance with a pensive, almost regretful expression, as he thought back to when he was the monster the world ever so wanted him to be. Something in him just snapped. After months of being hunted down like an animal, having to evolve just to survive a walk in the street, he grew tired of their actions.

He had tried to get away from it all, to just forget and live a new life, but when he saw how the human race treated their own, with disgust and hatred, he decided he'd had enough. It was his place as the apex predator of the earth to fit his environment as he saw fit, an environment completely under his control, but once you've been undisputed and uncontested for as long as he had, one can't remember where their mortality ends and the legends begin. Mercer had grown used to easily slaughtering anything that got in his way. He forgot what an even fight was, and he got sloppy...

When Heller defeated him, Alex could remember what his last words were. With a calm, almost bemused tone he said "huh...welcome to the top of the food chain." He remembered what it was like to be consumed, to have every muscle in his body tense up and hurt like every where the foreign virus touched was like a hot coal running through his veins, and then he loosened up and blackness fell over him. His subconscious was still there, simply because the strain Heller was carrying in his body was the exact one Mercer was carrying in his. Alex had the ability to consume Heller from the inside out because Mercer simply had the Blacklight virus a lot longer than Heller. While Heller was going through the various tasks Mercer sent him to do and the tasks Heller took it upon himself to do, Mercer was evolving at an enormous rate. Maybe even faster than Heller was, but he was satisfied that his fighting mutations were enough to put him on top, so he simply worked on evolving his survivability even more than what it already was. He created new strains that Heller knew nothing about and after they grew stronger...Mercer grew stronger as well.

Heller was indeed more than what Mercer originally intended, and with time could have even rivaled him, but that's not the way nature does it. Potential means nothing if another organism has beaten you to your goal. After he had gotten out of Heller, he had no idea what he was going to do. He wasn't going to try and take over the world again, but that left him with nothing: nowhere to go, no one to go to...

It was now, the time where Alex was never stronger, never more indestructible, and never more powerful than he was at this moment, that he felt the most dead inside. He could see why Heller attacked him. If it was Dana he would have done the same thing. He didn't want to kill Heller but had to, to survive. Killing Heller's daughter was when Alex finally woke up, finally realized just how evil he really had become.

After leaving that apartment it was now that Alex knew he had a lot to do if he could reclaim himself...that is...if he ever could. The fact of the matter is that what Mercer did was unforgivable. Alex shuddered at the thought of him losing control and...hurting Dana, but that was the past...a different Alex Mercer and he was determined to show the world that the old one, while not being perfectly innocent was going to change.

He looked at the intersection and could plainly see that Blackwatch and the military were still there. If anything in even more numbers than they had been previously, no doubt they knew he was alive longer than the newspaper. It was nothing he was afraid of. He was the most powerful thing alive and he knew it, and they knew it as well. It was one of the many things that was always perplexing to Alex, when a man faces something that is stronger than he is, something he cannot destroy, he destroys himself instead. Because that's all they do when they try to kill him, destroy themselves by facing the most dangerous, almost perfect predator...almost.

He had a lot to do before he could forgive himself, but before any of that, he had someone he had to see...

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**Don't forget to leave a review of any questions, concerns, or advice. The reviews let me know you guys like the story and want more. **


	2. Biological Warfare

**Chapter 2: Biological Warfare**

Deep in the heart of the red zone, Dana Mercer was in her safe house, specifically in front of her computer browsing anything Blackwatch tried to hide from her. She giggled gleefully as she watched the information Heller had specifically requested for her to get. It was something about them furthering their research into the Project: D-Code soldiers. She wasn't paying attention too much because something had caught her eye. A video labeled: "Test Subject_Zeus_11243C". Her eyes narrowed as her cursor slowly moved over the icon. She knew both James's and Alex's code names by heart and when she saw both of them on a video file, she was sure she'd found the final confrontation between James and what used to be her brother.

She'd wondered for a long time what the battle must have looked like. The two most dangerous things on the planet in one place, things like that didn't tend to work out. She asked James about it several times but he always gave her that hard, I don't want to talk about it looks and she always dropped the subject, but still, she was an investigative journalist, she had to learn everything she possibly could about something, and that was something she did not know.

She pondered how Alex must have looked when somebody had the nerve to stand against him. Quickly clicking on the file she witnessed with those sky blue eyes, a shaky camera coming from a helicopter, focusing on a rooftop of some skyscraper in the red zone, a group of 6 people on one side and James on the other, all of which except for some woman in the group had some kind of weaponry at their disposal. She saw a figure she could only know was Alex push his way through the group, walking with the confident swagger of somebody who thought they couldn't be touched. Alex was now at the head of the group from what she saw from the camera trying to focus on everything that was happening. Dana focused on Alex, who was apparently talking James, maybe trying to intimidate him? She really didn't know, but what she did see was that Alex was getting agitated by whatever James was saying back. Alex walked back until he was parallel with the others and Dana's eyes widened, as she gasped for something to say at what she was seeing in front of her.

Alex had sprouted several large black tendrils with smaller red tendrils visible in certain spots, almost like veins. It was of course nothing new to her. She'd lived with Alex long enough to where it didn't bother her anymore, but they did look...different than they originally did back when they shared an apartment: more refined, more robust, different than usual. His whole appearance was different. He looked physically stronger, the usually thoughtful, scowl he had was replaced with narrowed predatory eyes and a sinister grin. After Alex consumed all those evolved he immediately grew taller and looked even more muscular than he did seconds before, the tendrils that were once just on his arms were now visible on all of his appendages, but those weren't the biggest changes. The thing that kept her attention over anything else were his eyes...they weren't that mesmerizing silvery blue, but instead a bright red, she shuttered at the thought of him approaching her with them.

James and Alex watched each other for a few agonizingly long moments, sizing each other up for an attack, just like when two wild animals are about to fight, but neither gave the other an inch of ground. Dana couldn't help but think to herself that if this was a movie, this would be the part of the movie where the metal music would begin playing seconds before the battle began. They circled each other, claws and swords out stretched, each move they made was determined and flawless in its execution. Dana could practically feel the power that Alex's presence emanated, but James never flinched, never backed down. The helicopter had to turn around to avoid hitting one of the many skyscrapers that surrounded their battleground. She cursed loudly, as she was afraid she'd miss the first move, but the helicopter turned just in time to show that it wasn't one of them that made the first move, but they both did. Alex and James both sprinting towards one another, closing the already small space between one another in less than a second. Dana couldn't help but lean closer to the screen as she watched what was quite possibly the biggest showdown in history. Dust and small bits of concrete were blown away by the shock wave the two emitted when colliding with one another, talons and blades impaling both participants as they forced against each other trying to get the upper hand. James was the first to capitalize, forcing the huge blade through Alex's midsection jerking it out and then sliced diagonally across his chest, sending Alex sliding several feet. Alex got up with speed that even Heller couldn't count on and pounced high in the air, bringing his blade high like a guillotine and brought it down on James's shoulder. Alex then pressed his foot against James's chest and forced him forward, coming off his blade and sending him flying. Anything living thing in the area would have been reduced to mere puddles, as the two monsters clashed. There was another helicopter in the video's periphery, but Alex had used the long whip like appendage he was currently wielding and brought the helicopter down onto James in a bright fireball, but James quickly jumped over the wreckage and re joined the carnage. They both were determined to murder the other and Dana was captivated at the raw power she was witnessing. After a few more minutes of this brutal display of combat, James pulled both of Alex's heavily mutated arms off, effectively incapacitating him. Defeated, Alex slowly dropped to his knees, arms still gushing blood, while James who didn't look much better than Alex, stumbled toward him, claws at the ready and...Dana quickly looked away so she wouldn't have to see what came next.

She shut her computer off, took a deep breath and slumped in her chair, deep in thought about what she just witnessed. Despite what he had become, and despite what she had said, she still felt something towards that monster. She just wished she could see him one more time, the way he used to be and things could take a small step in becoming normal again. A lump formed in her throat as she thought about how much he'd changed and how much she missed him, the old him. She quickly dispelled these thoughts as she remembered how he had tried to infect the entire world, her brother was about to commit mass genocide and needed to be stopped. Despite how much she loved him. It was a necessary action, at least that's what she told herself at that moment, but there was always that small area in her mind that told things like "We could have done more! We failed him by turning our back on him." Then she felt sad again. In all honesty she didn't know how she felt about it. She felt sad for her brother Alex, but that...thing on the screen was obviously not Alex.

She got up from her chair to stretch her legs, she'd been in the same position since she could remember. Dana took a look around the apartment, admiring how well she was doing for somebody in the red zone. The apartment was comfortably furnished, bookshelves along the walls, a red burgundy color couch, chair, and a nice looking coffee table in the living room, and of course her computer. There were three other rooms, including the kitchen. In all honesty it was a little smaller than her original one, but it was comfortable living for only one person. Dana didn't bring much from the other apartment because it was filled with too many memories, but that's not even the reason she moved into the most dangerous part of NYZ. This was the most dangerous and hectic part of the city, so Blackwatch was having a much harder time trying to track her down. She realized that as long as you stayed reasonably quiet, the infected in the streets below couldn't hear you, but she was never that much for noise before she moved here, just the music playing in her ear buds was enough.

She tried calling James to tell him she'd found the information he needed, but he wasn't answering his phone, which actually wasn't all that strange now that she thought about it, he was probably just off on one of his little side missions that he took it upon himself to do every now and again.

But still...she couldn't help but feel that something was off. Something didn't seem right. She put these thoughts on hold as she heard a knock on the door. She opened the door, saw the figure standing before her, she just stared wide eyed, and started hyper ventilating, and then darkness fell over her...

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**Don't forget to leave a review of any questions, concerns, or advice. The reviews let me know you guys like the story and want more. **


	3. Vices and Virtues

**Chapter 3: Vices and Virtues**

Alex was perched on a fire escape, just across the street from the apartment Dana proclaimed as her "safe house". He didn't see how it could possibly be safe. Its walls were flimsy, two windows that could easily be broken by even the weakest infected. He could hear only slightly the music her headphones were emitting, and not much else. He looked down at the street below, there were about 11 shambling infected from what he could see. His eyes narrowed as he focused into the hive mind to command them to leave. They all slowly went around the corner looking for some unlucky organism to consume. He used to hate the hive mind, but he was just an outsider looking in back then, now he was the leader and it came in pretty handy when he needed to be stealthy.

He sat there crouched on the fire escape for a long time, thinking about what he was going to say to her. "Hey Dana, I know I used to be evil, but I killed both Heller and his daughter and now I'm better and things can go back to the way they used to be!" He frowned as he shook his head at the thought. Time got away from him while he was in deep thought, until he heard Dana curse rather loudly at something in the apartment. He decided it was time and hopped off the fire escape, landing ever so gracefully on the cold, hard pavement below. He walked slowly towards the apartment, still thinking about what he was going to say to her once he reached her door. He was going up the steps to the second story of the apartment complex when he heard Dana gasp loudly as if she'd been afraid of something in the room. He walked a lot faster, but didn't sprint, in case something was up there with her. He didn't hear any screams or sounds of struggle, so he calmed his pace a bit, before he reached the third and final story of the building. He walked slowly again, dreading what she might have to say to him once she saw him. He saw her door just down the hall. He could hear her walking around, by then he was standing in front of her door, a weird feeling in his stomach as he finally worked up the nerve to knock on the door.

When Dana opened the door her eyes widened, as a mixture of shock, fear, and confusion quickly swept across her face. Her breathing was fast and shallow as she started to fall backwards. "Oh shit!" Alex quickly sputtered, as he tried to reach for her, but ultimately missed. That small window of surprise effectively prevented him from reaching her in time before she hit her head hard on the floor.

Alex quickly picked her up and examined her head for any bleeding. He saw a large cut on the back of her head. He very gently put her on the couch, as he propped her head on a pillow and sprinted to the bathroom which hopefully had some kind of medical supplies in it. He opened her medicine cabinet, throwing aside all the unimportant items before he finally found some bandages and hydrogen peroxide. He came back and saw that the pillow she was on was already dark with her blood. He dabbed some of the peroxide onto a little strip of the bandages and gently cleaned the wound. Alex had consumed enough doctors to effectively do a brain transplant with ease. Each time he dabbed the cut, he could see Dana slightly wince at the pain, despite the fact that she was unconscious.

He quickly realized that this was going to require stitches. He wrapped a bandage around the cut and went back to the medicine cabinet for a needle and something he could use for stitches. He cursed loudly as he found nothing in the cabinet or in any of the items he threw on the floor previously. He looked all around the house for anything that could be used, after several minutes of searching, he found a sewing needle and some fishing string. Why did Dana have this? She hated fishing, but it didn't matter, it was as good as he was going to get.

When he ran back into the living room, Dana was paler than she usually was from blood loss. He examined the cut again one more time before stitching it up. 21 stitches was what he finally came up with before he was all done. He rolled Dana on her side, so she wouldn't mess up the stitching before it had time to settle. He finally relaxed and slumped his shoulders a little, while sitting in the chair across from her. Alex's bottom lip quivered slightly as he worried about if she had lost too much blood from him taking too long.

"Well this isn't a very good start." Alex said sarcastically as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, not to sleep, but to think about the events that are going to transpire when she wakes up. She might not remember what happened and think he had hurt her or something. Now that would be the worst outcome he could think of.

Alex could tell that it was early morning by the small amount of light that was shining through the boarded up windows, but he gave it no mind. He'd stayed through the night making sure Dana was ok. He hadn't moved since the night before when he was done tending to her wound.

Several hours later, Dana started to stir, Alex jumped up to keep her from falling off the couch. Dana rolled over to look at what was keeping her on the couch, her blurry vision dissipated after a few moments to reveal a tired looking, worried face, with the most remarkable, familiar eyes... She then realized who she was looking at and quickly backed further onto the couch, out of a mix sheer confusion and horror. She got off the couch and quickly learned why that was a bad idea, the back of her head was throbbing with pain. She felt her head and felt a good number of stitches and jumped to the conclusion the he had inflicted them onto her. "If you're here to kill me, then just do it!" she sneered at the person on the other side of the room who, just hours before was taking good care of her and quite possibly even saved her life. He recoiled at the words that were being thrown at him, his calm expression quivered slightly, as he looked down at his feet in a way that made Dana slightly stumble in the middle of her insults.

Sensing that wasn't why he was here she finally spoke up. "So why are you here...how are you here?" she said with one brow raised as she kept her distance, still cautious about Alex.

"Which do you want me to answer first?" He said in a tired, pitiful voice, while still looking at the ground, refusing to make eye contact.

Dana narrowed her eyes as she contemplated, much like Alex does when he thinks about something deeply."...The first one. Why are you in my apartment?"

Sheepishly, Alex almost whispers the answer as he is ashamed to be in this situation. "To try to make things the way they used to be..."

Taken aback at the response, Dana fumbled for a proper rebuttal. "W-...I-..I could have sworn you were evil just a few weeks ago." sarcasm heavy in her voice. "By the way, about that second thing, how the hell did you get out of James. He consumed you, I saw it."

Alex visibly flinched at the statement. For the first time since Dana had awoken, his expression changed from thoughtful regret, to complete bewilderment. Dana noted this response and filed it away for later.

"James is gone...and so is Maya." Dana's eyes widened and looked as if she might vomit any second.

"Dana you have to believe me, I had to, to live! I wouldn't have made it out into the street without collapsing and probably dying of complete cell saturation!"

She didn't respond. How could she? Alex had...murdered James and Maya. Pure survival or not, he killed them. She didn't know the person standing in front of her. First he left without so much as a goodbye, then when he comes back, he has this homicidal infatuation with mankind, and now he comes to her apartment claiming he's a changed person and that he wants things to be the way the used to be? It was too much right then. She couldn't think straight with Alex standing in front of her.

"Dana please look at me..." the sincerity and pleading in his voice would have been otherwise heartbreaking to hear, but right then Dana couldn't focus. She couldn't look at him, a single tear rippled its way down her cheek. "Alex you need to go. Just please, go."

Defeated, Alex stood up slowly, and did as Dana had asked. He walked to the door, footsteps silent, as he stopped at the door and turned his head, looking at Dana, perhaps for the last time. "For what it's worth...you were the last thing I thought of before I died..." and a before Dana could turn her head to look at him, he was gone.

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**Don't forget to leave a review of any questions, concerns, or advice. The reviews let me know you guys like the story and want more. **


	4. Fighting for Control

**Authors note: **I know I've been cranking chapters out pretty fast lately, but I have to go away for a little while guys :(  
Next chapter roughly sometime next week.

Don't forget to leave a review to let me know you want more :D

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**Chapter 4: Fighting for Control**

After Alex left the apartment, he had never felt such sorrow. Dana, his anchor to humanity, the only thing that separates him from the other monsters that resided in NYZ, wanted nothing to do with him. He needed find a way to make her forgive him, but he also needed to give her some space. A more pressing matter at that moment was that he needed to feed as well. He heard a strangely familiar voice in his head say: "Yes. feed Alex we need to feed." His whole face lit up in surprise and anger, as he did a full 360, searching the rooftop he was on for whoever said that. "Where are you! You better hope I don't find you!" The voice spoke again, this time in a much more demanding tone "It was me! We haven't fed in days and there are so many easy targets on the streets below. Kill them. It's what you were made for." Alex realized why the voice sounded so familiar. It was his voice, but with a much darker and evil tone. His body started writhing in tendrils and his claws were formed without him demanding them. "What are you doing!?" Alex said, straining his voice to speak against such a strong force. "What I have to!" the voice snarled. His senses went into overdrive as he could now smell the soldiers, and heard them walking in the streets, and they smelled good...really good. Alex struggled to keep from ripping them apart, but his body was fighting him for control. Alex's mind had always been a serenade of haunting voices, but this...this was unlike anything he'd ever seen. His body was trying to become the ultimate predator again and Alex knew that if it got what it wanted, he wouldn't be able to contain himself. He would kill anything unfortunate enough to be in his immediate vicinity and Dana was in his vicinity and he was not going to let anything happen to her, even if she did hate him.

He had to leave the red zone, that was for sure, but he couldn't keep this up forever. He'd never encountered something that could rival his will power, then again he'd never had to fight himself before. He high jacked a transport helicopter and flew all the way to the green zone, the farthest one from where Dana was. He ditched the helicopter and found some abandoned warehouse, in the industrial district. He had to fight it every step of the way, but it was a losing battle, something wanted out.

That day when Alex had fought Heller and achieved the most ultimate power he'd ever experienced, something inside him awoke and now it was tired of being caged in and it was strong. Alex heard outside, the sound of boots against loose gravel and pavement, someone was opening the door. "It seems our prey insists on coming to us" the voice said with a hint of excitement. It wanted Blackwatch to find him in there. Alex could hear their conversation. "We have reports of a stolen bird in the area and we're investigating, now stop asking so many fucking questions, Simmons" was all he heard before they opened the main bay door to reveal a tired, struggling, Alex Mercer.

The six of them immediately called for backup and open fired. Alex felt an explosion that he only knew was a hand grenade. The whole warehouse was filled with smoke and the smell of gunpowder, it was quiet, the soldiers all reloaded and waited for either the smoke to dissipate, or Alex to make a move, it was hard to see in the warehouse with all the dust and smoke, but then, every soldier froze as a pair of bright, luminescent red eyes slowly opened in the darkness.

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That small explosion was all Alex remembered before he awoke the next day in a puddle of blood and scattered metal. He took a quick scan around to make sure nobody was around, well, at least nobody alive. It was apparent that he had done this: Soldiers cut in halves, both horizontally and vertically, tanks with huge claw marks along the side, some with the turrets detached from the base, small incessant fires, both in the street and in the smoking wreckage that was once formidable war machines. Alex wasn't necessarily sorry for what he'd done, but was worried it'd happen again.

He looked through his memories to try to catch a glimpse of what he'd become. Private Daniel Simmons shed some light on that matter. Alex watched the memories that the private had experienced hours ago. It was night time, the scene was quiet, he could see the entrance of the warehouse he was in, the inside filled with dust and smoke. Nothing happened, but then he saw those eyes that looked so familiar, and yet so different. Simmons began to open fire and quickly saw that that was a mute point. Being a rookie, he began to run, he could hear screams, gunfire, and a laugh that made Alex shiver. He ran for a good 20 yards before he was abruptly on his back, a smiling hooded figure standing over him, his face too dark to see, except for those eyes. Then the private was promptly stabbed in the face.

Alex shuddered at the memory of those eyes. He looked through a few more memories, it was all the same, screaming, explosions, and that evil laugh. He couldn't take back what he'd done, it's not like he would even if he could, less Blackwatch to worry about. Despite what happened, he felt the need to get back to Dana, to make sure she was ok. He really needed her reassurance right now...If she would even look at him again...

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Somewhere in the Green Zone was Blackwatch's F.O.B or Forward-Operating-Base that aided with operations inside Manhattan. Two men, a young man, and an older man who was clearly in charge of things around here, dressed in business ware were talking as they went through a long hallway with only two doors at the end: "So what's this meeting about, sir?" the young man said with caution and respect.

The older man looked over at him and smiled slightly to acknowledge the question, "We are running low on men to put on the front lines against the infection and hunt down the runner at the same time. Alex Mercer needs to be hunted down, with extreme prejudice." he said with a hint of resentment in his low voice.

They finally reached the doors and walked into a dark room, a long table in the center, a video projector revealed several men on the screen, all leaders of their respective countries.

The older man walked into the light so he could be seen and spoke with vigor and grace. "Gentlemen I know you've been waiting for a few minutes, so I'm going to cut right to the chase. As you know, we've been dealing with an infection here in good ole' New York City cause by the bio terrorist Alex Mercer. We require your help to hunt him down. He is the #1 terrorist threat to the United States and all of her allies, including you all here. I ask that you all send in the best in the world to take down the worst it has to offer. Do not take this as a fool's errand, this man is dangerous and we've sent you all an enclosed copy of his work at Gentek and the threat this man is to the world. We ask that you send the best that your respective countries have, this mission is Tier 1." All the men on the screen are visibly uncertain about the idea of sending their counter terrorism units to combat this Alex Mercer. "Oh and gentlemen, I forgot to mention there is quite the price on his head that the United States is more than willing to pay for proof of his death, the amount is enclosed in your portfolios." Every mans face lights up at the dollar sign on Alex's head. "So do I have your cooperation in this?" he said with a slight smile.

The older man walked out of the room, completely satisfied with his work. The younger man in tow.  
"You lied to those men sir. Those men are going to walk into a death trap, Tier 1 or not." The younger man said with a lot less respect than he had minutes ago.

"I didn't lie to them. I just didn't tell them all of the truth. Also I think you're underestimating these men. We're sending in the hunter killers, the best of the best that mankind has to offer, the men that we send against all terrorists. They are going to hunt him down and do what we have failed to do, kill him."

"I hope for your sake you're right." the young man said with hesitation.

"Well the good thing about it is, if I'm not, I won't have to deal with this fucking job anymore."

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**Don't forget to leave a review of any questions, concerns, or advice. The reviews let me know you guys like the story and want more. **


	5. New Faces

**For the record I know that in Prototype, Blackwatch is a special forces unit , but for the sake of the story, I'm going to have them not be. It'll make sense later in the story.  
**

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**Chapter 5: New Faces...**

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Ever since Alex had left her apartment, Dana had been trying to remember what happened before she blacked out. She hit her head pretty hard so it was difficult to recall the experience as it happened before. All she could remember was opening the door and that was it. She doubted that Alex had actually hurt her like she originally thought, if he had, she really doubted she could have survived when men twice her size were cut in half like wet paper when Alex tried to hurt them. Also Alex had actually stitched her up and there was evidence of quite the operation: most of the contents in her medicine cabinet were either on the floor in her bathroom or on her coffee table, her head actually having stitches, etc.

She looked at the bloody bandages and the other assorted supplies Alex had left behind when he left. Maybe he was actually trying to make things better between them...but that still didn't excuse his actions before this whole mess. That was a definite, but she was hopeful that her brother had turned a new leaf, for the better this time, maybe they could have the same life they used to...

Dana sat upright from the couch and looked at the mess before her, dreading the cleaning that she was going to have to do. She probably had a concussion and this was the last thing she wanted to do, but her OCD compelled her to do it, regardless of the circumstances. She stood up and tried to bend over, but every movement only made the throbbing in her head worse. She sat down, defeated by such a small task.

She felt a small rush of air from behind her, easy to ignore if the window was open, but it wasn't open...she whirled around to see a tired, worried Alex gazing sentimentally at her. "Don't worry about all that Dana, I got it." he said while picking up the supplies, so Dana wouldn't have to. "You want me to get you an icepack for your head too?" Alex said as he looked up unexpectedly at her.

"Uh...yes please, thank you..." was all Dana could muster in her concussive state.

Alex did as she said and strode to the kitchen so quietly that if you weren't looking at him, you wouldn't be able to tell he was there. He got a small sandwich bag and filled it with ice and wrapped it in a dishcloth and brought it to her.

"So I suppose you want to know what happened last night huh?" Alex said as he sat in the chair on the other side of the coffee table from her, staring at her with a submissive, non threatening expression, so he wouldn't frighten her again like last time.

"Yes I do." Dana said in a firm, but quite tone.

"Well where to start...I knocked on your door, you opened it and promptly fainted and hit your head on the floor. I tried to catch you, but I was too slow." Alex said, clearly disappointed with himself for not being able to get to Dana in time.

Dana visibly relaxed now that she knew Alex actually didn't harm her. "You stitched me up?" she said leaning forward slightly to show that she wasn't as afraid as she'd been previously.

"Of course I did. When you have the mind of hundreds of doctors across all fields of medicine, it becomes pretty easy to stitch somebody up. By the way why do you have fishing string? I thought you hated fishing." Alex said chuckling quietly so he wouldn't make Dana's headache worse.

Dana could tell he was trying to lighten the mood. She thought she'd humor him, considering this is the first moment of real bonding she'd had with Alex in months. "Actually it was from an ex boyfriend I had, you know, before this part of Manhattan went to shit." She of course was messing with Alex, but with the expression he gave in return it was obvious he didn't hear her sarcasm.

"Alex I'm kidding. I got it from one of the other apartments, while I was making sure no infected was here. I figured it would be useful for something."

"Well you weren't wrong" Alex laughingly said. Dana also laughed very faintly, to show Alex that she was trying to also lighten the mood.

"Dana I need to ask you something..." his tone taking a much more serious and faintly scared turn. "You don't really think I'm going to...be the same as before right? Do you believe me when I say that I've changed?" He looked at her through pleading eyes.

Dana thought for a long time before answering. Finally she looked at Alex. "Alex I want to, but you can't just expect me to forget what you were right?"

While she didn't completely answer his question, that one word "were" was enough to make him feel much better and relax before saying something else.

"No I don't, but I hope that doesn't shield your eyes from what I am now." he stood up and walked over slowly and gently kissed her on the forehead. "I have to go, but believe me I will be back, I promise."

It hurt slightly when Alex kissed her forehead, his body heat was definitely not a plus either for her headache, but she accepted it nonetheless. _Maybe_ _things could really be the same as before..._ she thought as she saw the door shut behind Alex.

* * *

After Alex left Dana's apartment, he'd felt better than he'd felt in a long, long time. He sprinted through the streets with glee, as he did back flips and other aerial acrobatics. He was going to enjoy this feeling while he still had it.

Despite all this happiness, he could still feel that awful voice pounding on the doors of his mind, demanding to be let in. It wasn't as overpowering as it had been before, but it was still there. Almost like it was...waiting for something...

Alex was sitting on the edge of one of the many abandoned buildings in the city that surrounded him. He knew Dana needed some space and couldn't have him pestering her every few minutes, and besides, there was nothing in this city that could keep him from going back to her.

As Alex was sitting on his little perch, he noticed several large, well armed men, moving in tight formation on the streets below, gunning down infected in every alley way, every window, and every street they passed. There were only 6 of them, but they were acting with the speed and grace that an entire Blackwatch platoon couldn't match, they even took down a brawler with little to no trouble, they broke formation as most squads do when they see a 500 pound infected beast barreling towards them, but these guys didn't run when they broke formation, they split into 3 groups of 2 and both confused and damaged the beast from every angle. Every time it tried to get away, they hit it with some type of explosive that kept it rooted in it's place in front of the firing squad.

These guys were definitely special forces, the soldiers he'd consumed could tell him that, but these guys weren't Blackwatch, and from what language they were speaking, they weren't even American, these guys were speaking Russian. Alex, with his binocular vision, and excellent hearing could plainly see a Russian symbol on each of the soldier's shoulder pads.

Alex didn't know the symbol, but could read most languages on Earth, and what was on the squad leaders shoulder made him both confused and excited at the same time.

"Спецназ альфа-группа"  
(Spetsnaz Alpha Group)

He had a good idea of why Russia's best counter terrorism unit was in NYZ and he didn't like it. Because if this group was here, that meant that others like this group were not far behind...

* * *

**Don't forget to leave a review of any questions, concerns, or advice. The reviews let me know you guys like the story and want more. **


	6. Unexpected Company

_**SFOD-D** - Special Forces Operational Detachment- Delta_

**HVT**_** - **High Value Target_

**GROM - **_Grupa Reagowania Operacyjno-Manewrowego - __Operational Maneuver Response Group_

* * *

**Chapter 6: Unexpected Company**

_This is just another mission. Nothing more... Nothing less..._

These were the thoughts running through Sgt. Marcus Wright's head as he lead his squad of elite Delta Force soldiers down the empty street of what used to be a thriving infected hive site. A patch of the American flag and the initials, "SFOD-D" on all of their shoulders, signifying that they were part of one of the most powerful military units the U.S could send into this godforsaken city. There were six in his squad, including him. They were all highly trained in an assorted array of weaponry and hand to hand combat. Wright was a very broad set man with trimmed brown hair, hidden by his helmet, and a small stubble on his jaw line

They were traveling in formation towards what their intel says is a "possible HVT", meaning that there is the possibility that their target was in the vicinity. None of them actually knew what the guy looked like. When they were briefed about there upcoming mission, they were told that it was a search and destroy mission...now just who were they supposed to destroy? When asked who they were going after, their CO told them that they would know it when they saw it.

_Why did he use the word it and not him?_

Sgt. Wright did not like being in the dark about anything, but orders were orders and this mission had the potential to get him out of the service for good. He could retire and finally go back home. His trimmed beard was already showing grey hairs from the stress of his years of service. He wanted to go back home and if he had to kill one more terrorist to do it, then so be it.

He quickly snapped back to the situation at hand and took a quick scan of what was ahead.

Up ahead there was an industrial district with warehouses and heavy machinery scattered around a otherwise vacant compound; stacks of smoke and the faint smell of decay were the tell tale signs that they needed to be stealthy about this approach.

"Davis. Rico. Secure that alley way to our left and stack up behind the rest of the squad!"

The two designated riflemen immediately turned their guns to the alley and stalked slowly but precisely, making sure that every possible corner was absent of any possible infected or uninfected people before having the rest of the squad move ahead of them. Satisfied that there was nothing but them in the alley, Pvt. Justin Davis, a man with light blonde hair and a care free attitude, lowered his M4 and raised his hand above his head, indicating that it was secure. After the squad moved up they stalked towards the fenced in compound, moving quietly behind the wall until they were upon the entrance.

"Rico and Davis, there's a small building just ahead of us. When you hear my go ahead, you two provide overwatch from the rooftop, understood?"

Pvt. James Rico, a tan, very muscular man with a slight country accent and a M249 SAW, gave a nod, "Yes, sir."

Sgt. Wright looked at the men stacked behind him beside the chain link fence that would lead them into the last known place that their target was spotted.

He poked his head around the corner to make sure it was clear, he leaned back and whispered, "Ok there's some large machinery and stacks of building material to our left that will provide decent cover. On the count of three...One. Two. Three, go, go, go!"

After hearing the go ahead, the squad of soldiers burst from their cover quickly heading to their designated cover behind the Sergeant , Pvt. Rico and Pvt. Davis broke off from the rest of the squad towards the small office building. Once they checked every room and made sure they were alone, they headed up to the roof to see what was around them. Their walkie talkie came to life as Sgt. Wright spoke, "Rico. Davis. Are you in position?"

Rico was the first to respond while Davis checked their surroundings. "Yes, sir. There's a large plume of smoke coming from...is that a crashed blackhawk?"

Sgt Wright's voice was a lot more cautious sounding after those words, "There might be survivors. We'll investigate."

He looked down to his left and saw the large bulldozer and the assorted materials that his fellow soldiers were behind, he spoke into the walkie talkie, "A few hundred yards ahead of you, sir. You can probably see the smoke from your position. Do you want us to return, sir?"

"No, you keep us posted if anything happens ahead of us."

Rico squinted at the wreckage in the distance, trying to determine what had caused it to crash in the first place, when he felt a infinitesimal burst of wind on his neck and had the strangest sense that something was behind him. He quickly turned around, only to see a small fitful swirl of dust on the ground at his feet.

* * *

After seeing the spetsnaz, Alex decided that he had to know what he was dealing with. He had been searching for several hours for another special forces group that may be after him, but it was just the usual run of the mill Blackwatch or the occasional squad of marines. He was in the green zone because if there are any new military combatants on the island, this is where they will be first.

He began to grow tired of seeing nothing out of the ordinary until his senses kicked in and he heard the sound of plastic and metal softly hitting against something coarse and hard, probably kevlar, as that was what most of the uninfected inhabitants of the green zone wore.

A smirk started to form on his lips as he looked across a street below him and he could see six men, all heavily armed and well organized, moving as one mobile beast that was capable of capturing his attention. He focused his vision and clearly saw the patch that signified what detachment they were from.

_Delta Force..._ He narrowed his eyes and the smirk growing wider the more they showed their ability to move about unseen and unheard. If it wasn't for his highly developed sense of...well everything, he wouldn't have known they were there, but right now, Alex could see them as if they had spotlights on their foreheads.

They were heading towards the industrial compound that he had became..._something else._ He shuddered at the memories of fighting his own body for control and losing.

He knew most everything there was to know about this special forces detachment from his vast amounts of memories, all taken from soldiers not that different than these.

"Well...let's see how good they really are" he narrowed his eyes and lowered his hood. Anticipation evident in his posture and tone.

* * *

"What's the matter?" Davis said when he saw Rico's confused face. His green eyes reflecting the sunlight, making them a shade lighter then they usually were.

Rico turned around, "Nothing...thought I felt something," his face contorted in thought about what just happened.

"Felt something? Ooookay then bud." Davis said with his usual happy demeanor.

Davis reached for his walkie talkie, "Sir, have you reached the crash site yet?"

"Affirmative..." Sgt. Wright's voice had a ring of...astonishment?

Davis narrowed his eyes at the squad a couple hundred yards in front of him at the base of the smoke, "What happened to the bird, sir?"

"It looks like laceration marks, like something tore right through it. There are bodies everywhere too, most either ripped in half or have giant stab wounds."

Davis looked through the scope of his M4 and looked at the four men scattered around, they were either looking at the base of the smoke or inspecting things at their feet, presumably bodies. All of the sudden he heard several voices from the the room beneath him, but it wasn't in English. Davis motioned towards Rico, who was already aiming his weapon at the door that lead to the stairs. They both heard the faint sound of footsteps heading away from their position towards the wreckage. Davis saw four of them, all of which were speaking a different language.

Davis reached for his walkie talkie, "Sir! We have four unknown and armed men heading right for you!"

The walkie talkie immediately blew up, "What do they look like!? Are they hostile!?"

Davis trained his scope on the unknown men but couldn't see their identifying marks. "Unknown, sir. Permission to engage?"

"Negative. We need to determine who they are first. We'll intercept them, you follow close behind, but if things get messy you have permission to engage."

* * *

Alex had been watching everything that had happened so far with great pleasure. He had actually been so preoccupied with the Delta Force soldiers that he didn't even notice the squad of GROM following close behind them.

"Well I guess today's my lucky day. Two squads for the price of one!" a faint smile being the only different thing on an otherwise blank expression.

* * *

After hearing about the oncoming group of soldiers, Wright had mobilized his squad and took defensive positions in a warehouse directly across from the wreckage.

After a few agonizingly tense minutes, they could hear the footsteps of the oncoming squad. Wright and his men simultaneously raised their weapons and were immediately returned several raised rifles. Wright being the squad leader, was the only one allowed to speak during this situation, "Identify yourselves or we will open fire on you!" his voice firm and threatening.

The soldier in front of the others, probably the squad leader, spoke up, "Sgt. Antoni Breznik, GROM special forces. Identify yourselves."

"Sgt. Marcus Wright, Delta Force."

Slowly all eight men lowered their guns and began to come out of their positions, including Rico and Davis who were not far behind the Polish special forces.

Wright and Breznik walked up to each other, their men in tow behind them. Wright was the first to speak, "Nobody told us GROM was apart of this mission. Why are you here?"

Before Breznik could speak, a calm voice behind them said, "For the same reason you are."

* * *

**Well guys this story just broke 600 views! When I first wrote this, I never expected it to do as well as it is doing now and I have nobody to thank, but all you lovely people. You guys are the reason I'm doing this and if you like it, I'll post chapters faster! **

**If you like this story, you should check out my crossover as well!**

**Don't forget to leave a review of any questions, concerns, or advice. The reviews let me know you guys like the story and want more! **


	7. A Test of Strength

**HE rounds- High Explosive**

* * *

**Chapter 7: A Test of Strength**

As soon as Sgt. Wright heard the words, his rifle was pointing in the direction they came from, but what he saw wasn't what he or the other soldiers were expecting. It wasn't some trigger happy terrorist or some frightened civilian. It was a man wearing from what he could see, some regular loafers, faded looking jeans, a buttoned up dress shirt, a grey hood that was draped over his head, partially covering his astounding blue eyes, and a rather sleek black leather jacket.

Sgt. Wright eyed the man and could clearly see that he was doing the same to him, but he was doing it so confidently, almost hungrily.

The other nine soldiers that were before the man were yelling at him to put his hands above his head and to get on the ground or he would be shot, and yet he ignored all of them and kept his eyes locked on him, like he was his single target.

Sgt. Wright stepped forward so that he was slightly ahead of the others but not in their line of fire, "Quiet, all of you!" He looked to his sides and gestured for them to keep quiet but to keep their weapons up.

"What do you mean for the same reason we are? Who are you?" When the man said nothing, he began to grow angry with the situation, "How do you know why we're here?" Something about him felt off. It made him angry that he was so confident.

This time when the man said nothing, Sgt. Wright told his men and the other soldiers to lower their weapons and he walked straight up to the man and in one fluid motion, pulled out a Beretta M9 pistol from its holster and put it against the man's pale forehead and said in a menacing tone, "I'm not asking again."

This finally got a response out of the man...just not one that he was expecting. The man cocked his head to the side and a glint of sunlight hit his face. Sgt. Wright couldn't see it until now, due to his face being partly covered by his hood, but the man had a look of almost annoyment. It was clear that this guy wasn't going to be intimidated so easily.

Sgt. Wright narrowed his eyes, not taking his gun off of the man, "I take it you're the one we're here for then? Alex Mercer."

The infinitesimal flinch of posture confirmed his suspicion, "I thought so. Davis, Rico, check him for weapons and detain him. We're taking him back to the FOB."

* * *

When he saw the two men aiming rifles and coming toward him, he suddenly felt like a cornered animal and a deep growl reverberated in his throat. As the short, tan one reached to grab his arm, he quickly swatted it away and in a threatening tone said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

The man got extremely close to Alex, trying to be as intimidating as possible with his large muscles, but fell short of his goal...literally, as he was about a foot shorter than Alex, but he tried nonetheless, "What did you just say to me, you son of a bitch? I have complete permission to put your ass down, and you are really testing my patience right now, so put your fucking hands behind you back before I make you."

Alex, being a vessel of almost absolute invincibility, wasn't impressed, "Well then I guess you're going to have to make me," he said in a very condescending tone.

The soldier's face began to turn bright red with anger and a small vein could be seen on is neck as he looked behind him to his superior, who only rolled his eyes and said, "Don't mess his face up too bad. We need him to still look the same when we get back."

The soldier turned to face Alex, who to his surprise had taken a few very silent steps back away and was now staring at him with his arms folded. The soldier laughed loudly, "Oh, don't run, I'll just shoot you in the ass."

Alex simply unfolded his arms and balled his fists in response.

* * *

Sgt. Wright was watching Rico and Alex circling each other, Rico with both of his fists raised, and Alex was just casually walking at a gingerly pace, much calmer than anyone else in front or around him. Everyone was just so...on edge around this guy. They couldn't explain it but something about the way he looked at them...it was like a wolf looks at a flock of sheep.

He was pulled out of these thought by Davis, "Why'd you give him permission to fight this guy, sir?"

Sgt. Wright thought for a few moments, "So I wouldn't have to hear his whining on the way back."

This apparently satisfied Davis, but it wasn't really why he let Rico fight him. He wanted to know why this guy was so cocky, and admittedly wanted to see that smug grin wiped off this guy's face.

Rico quickly stepped forward and swung, his fist hitting the air where Mercer used to be.

"What th-" was all he could say before Mercer swept his legs from under him. He went back pretty far before hitting the back of his neck on the ground.

Sgt. Wright and the rest of the men around him stared wide eyed that all this happened. It took more time for Rico to hit the ground than for Mercer to get ready to strike again.

Rico got up after a few moments, "H- how did you do that? I've done that a million times and nobody's ever gotten out of the way in time!"

Mercer, in a calm, challenging voice said, "Well you're going to have to be a lot faster than that."

Rico laughed, "You got it."

Rico once again swung with his right hand but this time he saw the blur that was Mercer moving to the right, he came around again with a left kick, only to have it be grabbed and thrown in the same direction he was kicking. He was, once again on his back in the dirt.

Mercer responded with a mocking tone, "Not fast enough."

Rico's face contorted, seething with frustration, "You wanna see quick!? Dodge this!"at that moment he pulled his sidearm out of its holster and shot Mercer in both of his legs. Rico's face turned from a look of petty triumph to confused horror.

* * *

Alex looked down at his legs and saw his skin already writhing to fix itself and repair what little biomass the two 9mm bullets did. He looked back up to the men in front of him. In truth he was in a way, glad that it had happened. Alex had been missing the action that he used to be so accustomed to. It had been too long since he had the opportunity to shed his mortal disguise and do what he was made to do. Kill.

He shivered and the skin and clothing on his arms erupted into a mass of red and black vines that coiled and uncoiled, his five fingers were replaced by four long metallic talons that had been waiting too long to eviscerate something.

Mercer narrowed his eyes at the ten horrified men pointing machine guns at him, "Oh how I love this part."

* * *

Sgt. Wright was still pulling the trigger when Mercer burst from his spot and cut one of his newer squad mates to his left cleanly...or rather uncleanly in half.

By the time he turned to fire, Mercer was already stabbing another soldier, this time it was one of the GROM soldiers and not his, but he had a feeling that it wouldn't be long before that happened.

It was pure pandemonium with everyone running to either get away from Mercer or to get a shot on him. At that moment, Mercer began to...absorb someone...clothes and all...but that mean that he was finally sitting still for a few seconds so that he, Davis and two other soldiers from his squad could fire upon him. They formed a line and open fired, to no avail.

Their rounds hit him everywhere from his chin to his shins but they were either bouncing off or going right through him. Sgt. Wright quickly began to realize that this wasn't going to do any good. He looked around at everyone that wasn't torn to pieces or about to be. All of the GROM soldiers were scattered upon the ground and not much more could be said about a few of his own soldiers including Rico, "Pvt. Davis, do you still have those HE rounds in your backpack!?"

Pvt. Davis quickly and shakily said, "Yes, sir!"

Sgt. Wright look slightly pleased by this, "Ok good. Everyone load you rifles with any explosive or incendiary rounds you have. Davis, radio command and get a fucking evac bird!"

Davis pulled out his radio and began to call for immediate evacuation.

Sgt. Wright looked around for Mercer but he was nowhere to be seen, and that was almost as bad as him being right in front of them, "Ok let's get the hell out of here!"

Mercer came back into view, blood stained all over his clothes and face. He was walking slow at first but began to walk faster and faster until he was sprinting at the four men a few feet away.

Sgt. Wright saw how close he was and quickly grabbed an incendiary grenade from his pocket and threw it right at Mercer's feet. After it exploded they were sprinting to the gate they came in from. Sgt. Wright looked behind him to make sure Mercer wasn't following. What he saw was equally as bad; Mercer was standing amidst the flames, his body smoking from previous fires, and he had a small but plainly visible smirk upon his face, like this was nothing but a game to him.

They all ran until they could hear the helicopter flying above the rooftops that were directly above them. After they all got on and were in the air, Pvt. Davis looked at Sgt. Wright with a scared, shaken expression, "Sir...what the hell was that..._thing?"_

He looked up at Davis and the two other men who survived the horrific encounter, "I don't know. When we get back to base we are sure as hell going to find out."

The pilot overheard this and looks behind him at the bloody, shaken men, "What the hell happened to you guys? Weren't there six of you?"

Sgt. Wright ignored him and looked out the window of the helicopter, what happened next was all a blur; the helicopter suddenly jerked violently and fell quickly to the cold, hard pavement below.

* * *

At the Blackwatch FOB on the southern end of the island, the guards were patrolling the front gates, when a lone, dirty, and bloody soldier walked ever so slowly towards them.

* * *

**Just a reminder: I will elaborate what happened to Delta in the next chapter.**

**Don't forget to leave a review of any questions, concerns, or advice. The reviews let me know you guys like the story and want more. **


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